Electric Gardening Increasingly Popular

When I was a kid, we read the newspaper every day, called people on the phone (using a slowly rotating dial — nobody wanted a phone number with multiple zeros in it, it took too long!), and tended our gardens with a push mower, hand shears, and a rake. Nobody has time for any of that anymore, it seems; we live in the future, and our tools are more modern.

Except maybe for how we tend our gardens. A lot of garden equipment – lawnmowers, weed whackers, leaf blowers, and even hedge trimmers – is powered by burning dinosaur juice, a loud, smelly, and distinctly nonfuturistic source of power. And believe it or not, these ‘small off-road engines’ are projected to be a bigger source of smog than cars by 2020. Yes, you read that right! Cars have been getting cleaner for years, but gas-powered garden tools are mostly still dirty. And if Los Angeles wants to start meeting smog guidelines, it’s got to start electrifying everything, including garden tools.

For example, I recently picked up a 40 volt cordless leaf blower from Black & Decker. It’s quiet, lightweight, and works well. It’s not quite strong enough to do the whole driveway as quickly as a professional would like, but sometimes being quiet and lightweight is more important.

The power of leaf blowers is generally measured in cubic feet per minute; 100 CFM is light duty, 500 CFM is heavy duty. Also, more volts generally means more power. (That means the 20 volt blowers are probably best left on the shelf.) In search of a more professional grade leaf blower, I tried an 80-volt Kobalt cordless unit from Lowes. It’s strong enough to send rugs flying, remove dust and cobwebs from the side of your house, and clean long driveways quickly. It’s also a bit heavier, though — which is worth factoring into the equation, depending on who’s using your blower and for how long. (In other words, unless you need the speed and additional power of the 80-volt unit, you might prefer a lighter 40-volt model.)

The 80-volt Kobalt blower and the 40-volt Black & Decker. Both are cordless, cleaner and significantly quieter than traditional gas-powered leaf blowers. The Kobalt is both more powerful and heavier than the Black & Decker.Leaves are definitely no match for the Kobalt 80-volt blower, which can easily move a heavy braided rug.

A couple of tips: Batteries are expensive and unstandardized, so you may want to pick tools from the same brand and lineup to minimize battery confusion and maximize the usefulness of a spare battery. Also, if you have allergies, you might prefer a leaf blower that can double as a leaf vacuum; they do exist, but are a bit harder to find. You’d be surprised how much dust a leaf blower can kick up!

These three Black & Decker tools – weed trimmer, blower and hedge trimmer – all share the same batteries, which is very convenient.

And then there’s noise. Many people are annoyed by the sound of gas-powered leaf blowers, which sound a bit like chainsaws. The electric units sound more like hairdryers and are significantly quieter. And, bonus deal, they’re legal to use in residential areas. (The city nominally banned gas-powered leaf blowers 20 years ago, but softened the ban after protests from gardeners, who saw the ban as a direct threat to their livelihood.) I have heard gardeners prefer the new tools, and as battery life increases and cost decreases, a switch seems inevitable.

Readers, have you tried cordless garden equipment recently? Or do you wish your apartment manager or neighbors would? Tell us about it in the comment section below!

Dan Kegel is a software engineer and a member of the Greater Wilshire Neighborhood Council's Sustainability Committee. He also volunteers with Citizens' Climate Lobby Los Angeles and is an occasional contributor to the Buzz.

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